Akatsuki Problem
by RevesCasses
Summary: They had a problem. A problem with the name Haruno Sakura. She may look cute but piss her off or make her bored and you'll be a dead person walking.Rated T for language. Chapter one rewritten
1. Sacrifice

Akatsuki Problem

A/N: My first Naruto fic! Please review so I can improve more! Flames are accepted.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Deidara would not die…

* * *

Epilogue

"Sakura-chan! Time to wake up!" Konan said cheerfully as she entered the cherry blossom's room.

"Ok. I'm up Konan-chan. Why don't you wake the others first. I'll change." Sakura said and smiled at Konan.

"Yeah, but remember, it's your turn to wake Zetsu. I did it yesterday." Konan said and shuddered.

Sakura nodded and grinned. The blue haired woman grinned back and went out of the room, closing the door after her.

Sakura sighed and threw the crimson coloured comforter off her. She shuddered at the coolness of the morning air and crept off her bed. She proceeded to go to the bathroom to shower. Five minutes later, Sakura came out, wrapped up in a fluffy pink towel and was drying her bubblegum pink hair with a smaller towel. She wore her undergarments and pulled on a loose black three quarter sleeved shirt and a three quarter baggy pants.

Sakura tied her forehead protector onto her left arm and then strapped on her weapons holster and medicine pouch. Her Akatsuki cloak was hanging at the back of her room door. She sighed and pulled it on. If it wasn't for saving Konoha, she wouldn't want to be here.

∞_Flashback∞_

_Sakura knocked on the door and entered without bothering to waiting for Tsunade's reply. Her shishou(sp?) was surprisingly sober was doing some paperwork._

"_Ah, Sakura-chan. You're here. Come take a seat." Tsunade said as she looked up from the paperwork she was doing._

"_Ohayo Tsunade-shishou. May I know why you summoned me this early?" Sakura asked as she sat on the chair facing Tsunade._

"_You will know in a while. We would have to wait for the others to come first." Tsunade said grimly._

"_The others?" Sakura questioned but was answered immediately._

"_Tsunade-baachan!!" Naruto yelled as he barged in the room._

"_Urusai dobe." Sasuke said walking calmly beside Naruto._

"_Teme!" Naruto growled, attempting to punch Sasuke but was held back by Sakura._

"_Stop it Naruto." Sakura said disapprovingly._

"_Hmmph. Fine. I'll let you off this time Sasuke-teme." Naruto huffed and plopped on the couch._

"_Whatever." Sasuke deadpanned and leaned against the wall beside Naruto._

"_Ano sa, Tsunade-baachan, why did you summon us here?" Naruto asked, grinning. Tsunade, Sakura and Sasuke winced at the brightness of Naruto's teeth._

"_You'll have to wait for your Kakashi-sensei to come first." Tsunade said curtly. Just as she said Kakashi's name, he poofed in the middle of the room._

"_Yo." He greeted._

"_You came on time for once Kaka-sensei." Naruto stuttered. They sweat dropped when the Copy Nin took out the latest book of the series 'Icha Icha Tactics'._

"_Must you read that book now Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura groaned._

"_Hn." Kakashi grunted, which turned to giggles as he read the perverted book._

"_Hatake Kakashi." Tsunade growled with tints of pink evident on her cheeks._

"_Hai,hai." Kakashi said and pocketed the book._

_Tsunade sighed and looked solemnly at the three eighteen year olds and their sensei._

"_You still haven't tell us our mission yet." Naruto pointed out the obvious._

"_I was just getting to it. Ahem. I have a mission for all of you." Tsunade said._

"_Duh. Why else would you call us here." Sasuke snapped._

"_Stop interrupting me Uchiha. As I was saying, I have a mission for the four of you. A S-ranked mission." _

"G_et to the point!" Sasuke growled and Sakura shot a death glare at him._

"_I'll only brief you about the mission after you past a certain test. An ANBU test to be exact."_

_Team 7 stood with Tsunade in a long hallway that had four doors, each guarded by and ANBU member. _

"_ANBU exams are actually a few days long but since this is an important mission, this would be an exception.This is a little different from the Jounin exams. You are allowed to kill if necessary." Tsunade said._

"_First door, Hatake Kakashi, second door, Uchiha Sasuke, Third door, Uzumaki Naruto and fourth door Haruno Sakura. Your opponents are inside and the examiner will follow you in. Good luck." Tsunade said and left them. _

"_Good luck guys!" Sakura said and went in her room. The examiner followed her in and locked the door._

"_So you're my opponent huh? Don't expect to win." Her opponent taunted and got into his battle stance. He disappeared in a flash. _

_Sakura looked to her left…right…up…behind…She smirked. 'Too obvious,' She slammed her chakra enhanced fist to the ground causing a small earthquake, but enough to make 10 trees fall over. She then found her opponent jumping from underground to the sky wide eyed. _

_Her opponent shook his head and landed a kick at Sakura's waist. Sakura let out a low hiss and retaliated by throwing a kunai at him. He dodged it and attempted to trip Sakura but she jumped up sideways and slammed her fist to the ground and inserted chakra to the ground, causing rocks to rise and pin the man at his sides. He spat out blood but smirked nevertheless._

"_Getting serious are we?" He said, still smirking._

"_Surrender now." Sakura growled, walking calmly towards him._

"_Never." He spat._

_Sakura did some hand seals before slamming her hands onto the ground. A wave of mud immediately enveloped him , trapping him immediately._

"_Surrender NOW!" Sakura yelled._

"_I… I surrender." He whimpered. Sakura slammed her hands on the ground again to release the man and grinned cheerfully. _

"_You pass." The examiner said and smiled._

"_Thank you!" Sakura said happily and ran out of the room._

"_Sakura-chan! Are you alright?" Naruto fussed about her like a mother hen._

"_Relax I'm fine." Sakura said and grinned. _

"_Did you pass?" Kakashi asked immediately._

"_Well……," Sakura pretended to look sad and grinned inwardly when she saw both Kakashi's and Naruto's sad expressions , " Of course I did!" Sakura said. Naruto grinned and hugged Sakura._

"_Congratulations the four of you. It seems you have passed." Tsunade said, as she walked calmly towards them._

"_Of course Tsunade-baachan!" Naruto yelled._

"_Let's go back to my office first." Tsunade said._

­­­­­­­

* * *

_Back in the Hokage's office, Tsunade found some papers. She looked up at the team in front of her and sighed. Her brown eyes looked at each of them in turn._

"_Well, back to your mission, team 7. As hunter-nins of ANBU, you will leave on this mission today, this evening." she said._

"_Who will we hunt down?" Sasuke asked. Tsunade didn't answer his question, but frowned instead._

"_...I will tell you once the rest of the information is given to you. Your target is currently in Amegakure( Hidden Village of Rain). He is expected to move soon, so you have to hurry. Bring all of your best equipment, and do not underestimate your enemy. Plan your moves." she said, her voice low. She tilted her head slightly and rubbed her temples with one hand before looking at them again. Sakura thought she could see something in her tired eyes. She looked ...sad. Why?_

"_Come back alive. The one you are hunting down and then killing, is..." Tsunade said, taking a deep breath, " One of Konoha's missing nins, Uchiha Itachi."_

* * *

_Sakura was currently standing right outside the Konoha gate, looking away from the village. The trees swayed in the wind; filling the silent air with the rustling of its leaves. Frowning slightly, she turned around to face Konoha, determined to remember as much as possible before she left. Not that she would forget it, that wouldn't happen, but she wanted to keep the image of the village as clear as possible. _

_At the moment, she wore the ANBU uniform. The black and slightly baggy pants reminded her of the jounin trousers she had only gotten used to wearing last month. She wore a black sleeveless shirt with a tall neck, and black gloves that went just past her elbows. On top of her long gloves, she wore white arm-protectors, thick enough to shield her from most weapons if she would engage in battle. She also had a white leather vest and black boots. Her ANBU cat mask was placed on the side of her head ready to be worn. Sakura also carried a small backpack containing necessities like bandages and extra weapons. _

_She looked up to see Sasuke walking towards her, also clad in ANBU uniform. His held his mask, which Sakura noticed was a bird. ' Bird? I wonder why. Oh, it must be because of his spying skills.' Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement and leaned against the wall of the guard house._

_Naruto came soon after. His fox mask was also placed at the side of his head. He grinned enthusiastically and waved at Sakura._

" _Hi Sakura-chan! Sasuke-teme." _

" _Hey Naruto." Sakura greeted back and smiled. Sasuke 'hned' and got back to his brooding._

" _Yo." Kakashi said after appearing in a cloud of smoke. He was wearing his ANBU mask which was a wolf._

" _Wow, you are actually early this time." Sakura said._

"... _I guess so. This is an important mission. So did the tattoo hurt?" Kakashi asked._

" _Not really. They did put anesthetic so it didn't hurt." Naruto said. Sakura shuddered. She didn't exactly like the tattoo but she is an ANBU member..._

" _Let's go." Sasuke said and walked out of Konoha, mask in place. The three of them nodded. Sakura and Naruto wore their masks before catching up to Sasuke and Kakashi._

_They traveled all day before stopping to rest for the night. Sakura fixed up the tents, Sasuke and Naruto was in charged of catching their dinner whereas Kakashi collected wood for their fire._

_Sasuke and Naruto came back from the river nearby, each carrying three fishes just when Kakashi came back with the firewood._

"_Wow. That's a lot of salmon. How are we going to finish them all?" Sakura asked as she sat down between Naruto and Sasuke._

"_Dunno 'bout you but I'm starved. I miss ramen already." Naruto said and grinned._

"_Tch. Dobe." Sasuke said and bit into his salmon._

"_Mmm. This is really good." Sakura said after a mouthful._

"_Yup." Kakashi said, his visible eye curving into an arc._

"_Ano sa, Kakashi-sensei." _

"_Just call me Kakashi-senpai or just plain Kakashi. We are the same rank."_

"_Ok then. Kakashi-senpai, w__hy do you cover your face all the time?" Naruto asked as he wiped off bits of fish from around his mouth._

" _Hmm. It's because, I'm too handsome for my own good. If I uncover my face, everyone will fall for me including guys. Wanna try Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi purred teasingly._

_Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura blushed and shook their heads. They quickly finished their meals in silence._

"_Ne, ne, Sakura-chan." Naruto said as the three of them lay on the grassy field, underneath the starry sky. Kakashi was in the tent, either sleeping or reading. Most probably the latter._

"_Hmm?"_

"_Can you see that star over there?" Naruto pointed to a random star._

"_You mean that bright one?"_

"_Uh-huh. That's really pretty don't cha think?"_

"_Yeah." Sakura agreed._

"_You know, if I had a star for all the times I'm happy with you guys, I would have more than the sky's." _

"_Tch. Mushy dobe." Sasuke muttered. _

_Sakura grinned. "Why don't you guys go sleep first. I'll guard the area first." _

"_I'll guard too." Sasuke said._

"_Hey! I want to guard with Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled._

"_Stop it both of you. I'll guard alone. End of conversation." Sakura said. _

"_Fine." Naruto said and turned in. Sakura sat up and leaned against a tree. She noticed the younger Uchiha still not going to bed and turned to him with a questioning look._

"_What?" She asked him._

"_I'm not sleepy yet. I'll stay up with you." He said._

_Sakura smirked inwardly. She could tell that Sasuke was worried for her even though he never showed it in his face or eyes. Ino-pig would surely be jealous if she knew. Then again maybe not because she already had the lazy genius, Shikamaru._

"_Suit yourself." Sakura said. Sasuke sat down on the other side of the tree._

"_Sakura." Sasuke said and scooted over to Sakura._

"_Yes? " Sakura asked surprised. Sasuke was never one to start a conversation._

"_We're surrounded." _

'_Oh shit, oh shit.' Sakura thought._

_Sasuke leaned in closer to Sakura. "I recognize the chakra to be those of Akatsuki's. Wake Naruto and Kakashi." _

"_There's no need to. Naruto's already up.I froze his movements and forced him to stay in the tent. I expect they are after him." Kakashi said as he came out of the tent. He threw a kunai at some bushes. _

"_Show yourselves." Sakura said. Sure enough, Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, Sasori, Deidara, Zetsu, Hidan and Kakuzu appeared out of the bushes. Sakura counted them mentally. Only seven out of nine members were here. They were out numbered . Sasuke growled and charged towards Itachi, Chidori in hand._

"_Itachi!" He yelled. Itachi sidestepped the attack easily. _

"_Sakura-chan! Behind you!" Naruto yelled as he ran out of the tent._

_Sakura escaped just in time as Deidara caused a clay bird to explode where she was standing. Sakura threw some kunais and shurikens at Deidara and avoided the clay birds. Naruto ran towards her side._

" _What are you doing Sakura-chan? You are going to get hurt! Save your chakra for healing us." Naruto said while fighting off four Akatsuki members along with Kakashi._

" _Sakura? Wait aren't you THE Haruno Sakura, Tsunade's apprentice, un?" Deidara asked._

" _Yes. Is that a problem?" Sakura hissed and dodged Zetsu's stray tentacle._

_Deidara smirked. He ran towards Itachi and told him something. Itachi nodded and paralysed Sasuke. Sakura barely blinked when Itachi suddenly appeared behind her and grasped her arms._

" _Let go of me." Sakura struggled his strong grip._

" _Kunoichi, we have a proposition for you." Itachi said coldly._

" _I don't want to listen to any of your proposition." Sakura hissed as Itachi dug his nails into Sakura's bare arms._

" _Oh? Watch your companions die than." Itachi said._ _Before her green eyes the Akatsuki had all three of them knelt before her with blades at their necks._

_Itachi laughed coldly as the katanas were raised._

" _Wait stop! What do you want me to do?" Sakura pleaded helplessly._

" _You are to join Akatsuki and serve us as our Medic. You must heal us when we get injured." Itachi said._

" _I…I…" Sakura was at lost of words. _

" _I take that as a no. Know that your companions died because of your selfishness." _

" _No," she whispered, " Stop."_

_Akatsuki held their weapons for the second time._

" _I'll join Akatsuki on one condition. You must never attack Konoha or the Kyuubi anymore."_

" _Very well. Say your goodbye's and don't try anything. If you do, Leader-sama will send us to attack Konoha._

_Sakura nodded resentfully and walked towards her ex-teammates as he released her._

_Akatsuki lowered their weapons still prepared for anything._

" _W-What's going on Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto whispered, confused._

_Kakashi shook his head sadly. " Sakura-chan sacrificed herself for the safety of Konoha and you."_

"_N-No…" Naruto whispered brokenly as tears pooled in his cerulean eyes._

"_I'm sorry Naruto. I'm so sorry. Remember to take care of yourself. I'm sure you would be a great Hokage some day. Don't forget to bring the ring when you propose to Hinata." Sakura said sadly as her own tears dripped onto Naruto's face. She kissed his cheek and hugged him one last time. Sakura stood up and turned to Kakashi._

"_Kakashi-sensei.. Don't read the Icha Icha series too much. Find someone to love to keep you busy. I'll miss you." Sakura said and hugged the tall Copy Nin._

"_I'll miss you too. I'll tell Tsunade. Take care of yourself Sakura-chan." Kakashi said and ruffled her pink hair sadly. Sakura nodded and wiped away her tears. She released herself from the hug and turned to the brooding Sasuke._

"_Sasuke, forget about your revenge. I know it would be hard but please forget it. Take care of yourself. Be sure to watch over Naruto." Sakura said and hugged him. She released him and gave the three of them one last smile before turning away._

" _Sakura. Wait." Sasuke tugged on her hand. Sakura turned. _

" _I… I love you." He said loud enough for the both of them to hear._

_Sakura smiled sadly. 'Too late' she thought. If he confessed six years earlier, she would have said the same thing but now, she no longer loved him._

" _I'm sorry, Sasuke…kun." Sakura said, adding the suffix one last time before turning away._

∞_End Flashback∞_

Sakura smiled sadly. Her heart wrenched painfully and Sakura pressed a palm to where her heart was located, attempting to stop the pain. Two months had passed since she sacrificed herself. Two months had passed since she joined Akatsuki. Two months spent without seeing Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi. Sakura felt tears brimming in her eyes but held it. She no longer wanted to cry. She wiped it away hastily and proceeded to comb her hair.

Sakura gathered her waist length hair pink hair into a ponytail and twisted it into a knot. She held it in place by using a few senbons and a beautiful metal hair pin that had Sakura flower patterns weaving around it. Set on the tip of the pin was a beautiful jade. Sakura gazed at her reflection and forced a smile onto her lips. It looked fake to her but she knew it was real enough for the others.

'_Time to start the day.' _Sakura thought and left her bedroom.

* * *

So what do you think? Boring don't you think? The first few chapters are going to be quite boring. I guess the humour shall only start in the later chapters or sumthing. Do tell me what you think in the review. Flames are accepted. 

Ja-ne!

Stephanie


	2. Shopping and a Nightmare

Akatsuki Problem

A/N: So here's chapter two! Be grateful because this is nine pages long and took me a few days to write.(A few days because I was too lazy to type...Hehe...)

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sasori wouldn't die either……

* * *

Chapter One: Shopping and a Nightmare.

Sakura sighed as she sat amongst the Sakura trees. Sakura flower petals floated softly around her, carried by the soft wind. She crossed her legs and closed her eyes to meditate. She calmed her nerves and opened up her senses to the surroundings (**A/N: **As in become aware of the surroundings...--). Sakura smirked and threw a kunai with deadly accuracy at a tree a few feet away.

"Come out Itachi-kun. I know you're there." Sakura said and opened her eyes.

Itachi raised an eyebrow but jumped down from the tree anyways, kunai impaled in his left shoulder.

"Come here. I'll heal your wound." Sakura sighed. Itachi nodded and sat down beside her. He pulled out the kunai and winced slightly.

"Take off your cloak." Sakura said.

Itachi nodded and shrugged off his cloak, revealing the simple mesh shirt and black baggy pants he wore underneath. Sakura propped onto her knees and leaned in against the weasel. She molded green chakra into her palm and pressed it lightly onto the wound. The bleeding stopped and the wound knitted together.

"Thank you Sakura-san." Itachi said as the pain died.

"Your welcome. I'll get going now. Konan would probably be wondering where I am." Sakura said. She dusted the back of her cloak and did some hand seals, disappearing in a swirl of Sakura petals, leaving Itachi behind.

xxxxxxxx

Sakura stirred the contents of the pot twice. She picked up a spoon from the counter top and dipped it into the soup. She blew the soup softly before tasting it.

"Mmm... Perfect." Sakura said to herself. She placed the spoon into the sink and marinated the teriyaki chicken.

"Wow, Sakura-chan. I was only gone for five minutes and the kitchen smells like heaven." Konan said as she came in the kitchen.

"And have you ever been to heaven?" Pein taunted as he too entered the kitchen.

"It's a metaphor asshole. Fuck off will you?" Konan growled back.

Pein smirked and went out of the kitchen.

"He is so annoying." Konan muttered as she stir fried the marinated chicken.

"But you're in love with him." Sakura teased, smirking when Konan blushed.

"D-Don't t-t-tell h-him al-r-right?" Konan stuttered. Sakura's smirk got even wider. Konan was never one to stutter. She broke out of her thoughts when she smelled something burning.

"Ah! Konan-chan, the meat is burning!" Sakura said and hurried to turn off the fire.

"Oh." Konan said weakly.

"You know what; I think you need a break. Now get out of here. Leave lunch to me." Sakura said and pushed her out of the kitchen.

Sakura came out of the kitchen, twenty minutes later, carrying a tray laden with dishes in one hand and a pot of rice in the other.

"About time you finished cooking Sakura-chan, un." Deidara said and practically drooled at the sight of food.

"Well, I would have finished earlier if Konan-chan hadn't burnt the first batch of chicken." Sakura retorted while arranging the dishes on the table. She went back to the kitchen and brought out a steaming pot of miso soup. Konan scooped up the rice into multi coloured bowls for everyone while Sakura ladled the soup.

(**A/N:** All of them have different coloured bowls. Pein has an orange bowl, Konan has a midnight blue bowl, Zetsu has a green bowl, Itachi has a red bowl, Kisame has a light blue bowl, Deidara has a yellow bowl, Sasori has a brown bowl, Hidan has a grey bowl, Kakuzu has a black bowl and Sakura, of course, has a pink bowl.)

"Ano, I don't want that much rice Konan-chan." Sakura said as Konan piled rice into Sakura's pink bowl.

"Oh? Are you on a diet then?" Kisame asked accepting his light blue bowl from Konan.

"...No. Why?"

"It seems like you need one." Hidan said before Kisame got to reply. He smirked as Sakura's shocked expression turned to one of anger.

"Why you... " Sakura growled. Green chakra glowed around her.

"No fighting at the dinner table. Now eat." Pein commanded as Konan passed him his orange bowl.

"You are so dead Hidan." Sakura growled, shooting a death glare at Hidan. Hidan caught the glare and flinched inwardly.

"Jashin-sama I'll sacrifice her to you soon. Soon." He said, smirking.

"Hidan." Pein said in an icy tone.

"Gomenasai Pein-sama. Itadakimasu." Hidan quickly said. Pein nodded and resumed eating.

"Konan-chan," Sakura drank some of her green tea, "... are you free some time after lunch?"

"Hmm...Let's see... Not really. Why?" Konan asked, thoughtful look on her face, chewing on her bottom lip.

"I found a new village while training yesterday. I heard they have wonderful boutiques there." Sakura said and ate a piece of sashimi.

"Oh, really? That's great! Oh sure I'll-" Konan was cut sort by Pein clearing his throat.

"What mushroom head?" Konan growled.

"Have you forgotten you challenged me to a spar?" Pein said, amusement evident in his normally expressionless face at the nickname Konan chose to give him.

"Eh? N-No I d-d-didn't." Konan stuttered as Pein leaned to her ear. She felt his warm breath fanning her ear and blushed heavily.

The rest of the Akatsuki raised their eyebrows. They quickly ate the remnants of their meal and brought their dishes to the sink, leaving the kitchen and dining room immediately.

"Oh yes you did. You and I are going to have some fun sparring," Pein smirked when Konan blushed deeper. "Let him go with her." He added loud enough for the both of them to hear. Konan's eyes widened. A smile soon found it's way to her face. Acting huh? Two can play the same game.

"I'm sorry Pein-kun I totally forgot." Konan purred. Pein's eyes widened a bit. He smirked and sat back down.

"I'm so sorry Sakura-chan. I'm afraid I can't join you." Konan said to Sakura as she picked up both hers and Pein's dishes and brought them to the sink.

"No. It's alright. I'm sure that it's very important." Sakura said cheekily, stressing on the 'very'. "Deidara! It's your turn to wash the dishes." Sakura called out as she leaned against the counter and bit into a peach she took from the fruits basket.

Konan blushed but smiled anyway. She stood beside Sakura and grabbed an apple instead.

"Deidara! Did you hear me?" Sakura called out.

"Coming, un." Deidara shouted back. He came in the kitchen his usual goofy grin plastered across his face.

"Go wash the dishes. Be sure not to burn down the kitchen like you did last time." Sakura said sternly but burst out laughing at the memory. Konan joined her laughter and Deidara scowled.

"Haha, very funny." Deidara retorted, forgetting his usual 'un'.

Sakura and Konan laughed louder. Sakura finished the remnants of the peach and threw the core in the garbage bin.

"Bye Konan-chan. See you later!" Sakura said and proceeded to leave the kitchen.

"Oh yeah Sakura. Weasel-kun wants you to meet him at the training grounds. Never mentioned why, un." Deidara said using Itachi's nickname.

Sakura grinned and nodded._ 'Probably wants to talk about his eyes.'_ She thought.

She waved to Deidara and Konan before leaving the kitchen. She walked along the dim corridor, leading to the training ground and stopped walking when she reached a particular door.

∞_Flashback∞_

_Sakura groaned weakly as she opened her eyes. Her head pounded and her whole body felt sore. Sakura struggled to sit up and leaned against the wall that was cold. She glanced around the room, not recognizing it at all. It was dark and there was no windows at all. It was lit only by a few candles. The room didn't have anything in it except for a dusty old table and chair._

_A door stood by the side of the table._

_Sakura frowned. She did not remember entering this room at all. In fact the only thing she remembered before fainting was seeing the Mangekyou Sharingan... Wait.. Mangekyou Sharingan!?! Oh... Right... She sacrificed herself for Konoha. Sakura sighed. She felt blood trickle down her arm and turned to look at it. A deep slash was evident there along with other cuts and bruises. Sakura groaned. She molded chakra into her palm and healed her injuries. Her green chakra brightened up the room. She finished healing her entire body a few minutes later. As the greenish hue of her chakra faded, the door swung open._

"_You're awake, kunoichi, un." Deidara said as he entered the room with a glass of water. He walked towards her and crouched beside her._

"_Here drink this." He said and held the glass to her lips. He titled the glass and Sakura drank the cool water greedily. She downed the water in a few gulps and sighed in contentment as her throat was not parched anymore._

"_What's your name kunoichi, un?" Deidara asked as he placed the glass down and sat beside Sakura._

_Silence ensued. She wasn't sure whether to answer or not but decided to since she was going to be staying here for a long time._

"_Sakura." She said weakly._

"_Huh?"_

"_My name is Sakura. Haruno Sakura." She said louder this time._

"_Ah. Sakura, huh? It suits you, un." Deidara said. He stared at her long waist length hair. Even though it was covered in dirt, her hair was still very pink. _

"_Weird hair colour, un." Deidara mumbled accidentally aloud._

"_Huh?" Sakura asked confused._

"_Oh. Nothing, un." Deidara quickly said. He didn't want to anger her. After all she was Tsunade's student who inherited her monstrous strength._

"_A lot of people said that to me." _

"_What, un?" _

"_I said a lot of people said that my hair was weird. It is rather unusual. My mum had red hair and my dad had brown hair. It's funny how I got pink." Sakura said, laughing softly. Deidara's amber eyes widened. Her laughter was soft and melodious, like an angel's._

"_Aa." Deidara said lamely._

"_I see you are awake." A man with flaming orange hair and face piercing came in the room. Deidara stood quickly. He grabbed the empty glass, bowed to the man and left the room._

"_I'm Pein. Akatsuki leader." The man, Pein said._

"_Gonbanwa, Pein-sama." Sakura greeted politely. She figured she would have to call him that if she did not want to die._

"_I assume you know why you are here?"_

_Sakura nodded, willing herself to look at Pein. She was startled when she saw his blood red eyes._

"_I will get to the point. You are now an Akatsuki member. You shall serve Akatsuki as a medic and shall heal our injuries. This is your ring to prove that you are an Akatsuki member. Wear it and protect it. Lose it and you die. Deidara shall tell you anything you need you know." Pein said and threw her a ring that Sakura caught. Pein nodded at her and left the room, closing the door behind him._

_Sakura held the ring up and examined it. It had the kanji for 'Flower' (Hana in Japanese) on it and it was pink. Sakura inspected the size and tried to wear it on all her fingers. She finally settled on her left pinky finger as it was the only finger that fit. Sakura stared at the ring for a long time before she heard the door opening again. She recognized the chakra signature to be Deidara's and looked up._

_Sure enough, he was standing at the door way grinning at her._

" _Welcome to Akatsuki Sakura." He said warmly._

"_..." _

" _Your room is prepared. Come, I'll show you to it." Deidara said._

_Sakura nodded before getting up and following Deidara to her new room; leaving the 'prison' for good._

∞_End Flashback∞_

Sakura held up her left hand and examined the pink ring. It contrasted greatly with her fair skin and dark purple nails. Ever since she wore it, she never took it off; in fear that Pein might kill her. Sakura gave the door one last look before walking away. She reached the end of the corridor and pushed the door in front of her open. Wincing at the brightness of the sun, Sakura stepped out to the training grounds. She spotted the calm Uchiha leaning against a tree, eyes closed.

Sakura made her way towards Itachi. His eyes opened as he sensed her chakra approaching him. Itachi started walking before Sakura reached him, indicating with his head for her to follow him. Sakura quickened up her pace to catch up with him.

"Itachi-san, where do you want to bring me?" Sakura asked as she finally caught up to him. He strolled leisurely beside her, not answering her question.

"Itachi-san, I repeat where are wegoing?" Sakura asked, irritation evident in her voice.

"To the village." He said calmly turning to his left.

"What?"

"To the village you wanted to go to." He repeated.

"Oh..." "...Wait. You're following?" Sakura asked confused.

Itachi nodded and made his way slowly down the hill and jumped onto a tree branch. Sakura jumped up and landed beside him.

"Why are you following? I can take care of myself."

"There's nothing to do." He said curtly and sped up.

"Nothing to do, huh?" Sakura smirked to herself. Even though she only knew the older Uchiha for two months, she could tell that he was worried for her. Sakura scoffed and sped up.

After one hour of traveling they reached their destination, Torigakure (Hidden Village of the bird). She looked around and saw that the streets were almost empty, but she didn't give it much thought. Sakura grinned wickedly when she caught sight of the shopping complex at the end of the street. She turned her head to Itachi and grinned devilishly at him. Itachi caught her look and shuddered inwardly.

'_What the hell is wrong with her?' _he questioned himself. Sakura obviously saw his confused expression and her grin broadened.

"Lets go Itachi-_kun._" Sakura purred and proceeded to drag Itachi towards the shopping complex.

'_What have I done?'_ he thought not liking this at all.

xxxxxxxx

Itachi had never been so bored in his life. He had been sitting in the same boutique for over an hour waiting for Sakura to pick out her clothes. She had finished shopping for her shoes, undergarments and cosmetics. Making the boutiques last on the list. However, much to Sakura's dismay, she could not find anything that suited her. If she found right color there weren't size for her and if she found her size she didn't like style of it. Itachi was very irked.

He suppressed a sigh. The clothes store was the worse so far. He liked the undergarments store better; considering the fact that Sakura had not close the curtain of the changing room properly, leaving a gap wide enough for Itachi to have perfect view of her body. Being a man, he obviously liked what he saw. He did not know that the petite roseate haired kunoichi had such nice curves. They were very much hidden by the plain Akatsuki clothes he'd seen her wear throughout the two months.

Itachi groaned softly and leaned against the back of the chair. He closed his eyes for a short nap. He opened his eyes a few minutes later as he sensed Sakura walking towards him.

"I-ta-chi-kun! I'm done." Sakura chirped happily, carrying three bags in each hand.

'_Finally.' _Itachi thought. He stood up and glared at the shopkeeper, as if daring him to take Sakura's cash. The shopkeeper shrunk in fear and quickly went in the stock room, slamming the door behind him. Itachi nodded at Sakura, then grabbed the four bags that were sitting beside him, containing the rest of Sakura's purchases.

"Let's go." Itachi said and stormed out of the shop. The villagers around were staring at them so he glared at them. They quickly went back to their own business, not wanting to be killed.

"Are you alright Itachi-kun?" Sakura paused, "Are my bags to heavy? I can summon Kurogane to help carry them."

"Hn." Itachi said but never gave Sakura the bags.

"Ok then. I take that as a no." Sakura said. They continued walking to the village gate until Sakura stopped walking. Itachi raised his eyebrows as Sakura stared at an item being displayed at a jewelery store. Sakura felt Itachi walking towards her but paid him no heed. She was more interested in the necklace she was looking at. It was gorgeous with it's beautifully cut rose quartz obelisk suspended in a silver circlet embellished with a deep red Garnet, dangling from a slim silver chain.

Sakura continued staring at the necklace until Itachi brought her out of her reverie by calling her name.

"We should go Sakura. It's getting late."

"Huh? What time is it?" Sakura asked, dazed.

Itachi merely pointed at the clock tower that was in the middle of the village. Sakura turned to look at the clock and was shocked to see that it was nearly six.

"Kami-sama! It's this late? Let's just run." Sakura said and sped off leaving Itachi in her dust. Itachi shook his head and smirked inwardly. Sakura can be so reckless at some times.

"Itachi!" Sakura yelled agitated.

"Aa." He said before catching up to her.

xxxxxxxx

That night, Sakura lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Moonlight shone brightly through the window, lighting up the dark room. Sakura sighed. She could not sleep. Not when she was haunted by a nightmare that hurt her deeply.

* * *

_Sakura walked through the empty streets of Konoha. No one seemed to be there. Suddenly, there was a change of scenery. From the silent Konoha, it changed to a war filled one. Battle cries filled the air. A ninja flew over to her as the impact of the jutsu his opponent was using hit him. Sakura bent down to inspect the person's wounds when she realized that he was a Sound Nin. Then she realized that Konoha was under attack by the Sound Nins and they were loosing. _

_Bodies were strewn all over and the cries of children filled the night air. Houses were on fire and blood covered it. A flash of yellow passed by her and charged onto a Sound Nin. Sakura stared at the particular ninja. Yellow hair, ANBU outfit and a fox mask. _

"_Naruto.." She whispered before yelling as Naruto's body flew through the air. She caugh sight of his opponent. It was Orochimaru._

"_Naruto!" Sakura screamed and ran to his side._

"_Sa-Sa-Sakura-chan." Naruto said weakly._

"_Hush Naruto-kun. Let me heal your wounds." Sakura said and proceeded to mold chakra into her right palm. But before she even healed Naruto's worse wounds, he held her wrist._

"_Naruto-kun?" _

"_It's ok. I'm going to die soon anyway." He wheezed and coughed out blood. Sakura immediately used her other hand and pressed them to Naruto's chest, checking his wounds. Sakura's eyes widened. It was no use. His lungs were bleeding but that wasn't the worse of it. His kidneys and liver were damaged beyond repair and there was a hole at Naruto's side. _

_Sakura removed her hand from his chest and let it drop by her side. Tears brimmed in her eyes and dripped onto Naruto._

"_Don't cry Sakura. I don't want you to cry. I know I'm dying. Please don't cry by my deathbed." Naruto said and wiped away her tears with his other hand. His released Sakura's wrist and dropped his hand._

_Sakura nodded weakly and wiped away her tears._

"_Sakura-chan, you must listen to me ok? No matter how hard it is, just do it alright?"_

"_Naruto," Sakura protested but Naruto held his finger against her lips._

"_You must listen to me. Please Sakura-chan." Naruto pleaded with sad eyes. Sakura nodded weakly. He smiled and then cupped her cheek._

"_Sakura-chan, I want you to find Sasuke," he paused. "...and kill him."_

"_W-What? N-No Naruto. I can't do that." Sakura said._

"_Sakura, listen to me. Either you kill Sasuke or let him go to Orochimaru. Tsunade-baachan had some spies from Kirigakure tell her that Otogakure was planning to start a war. What we didn't know was that it was happening two days after the spy told Tsunade. So that explains this." He indicated the ruins. _

"_But that is not important. Sasuke and I talked about something important. He told me that he had long forgotten about his revenge against Itachi. He also said that if the war started and Konoha was loosing, he wants me to kill him."_

"_What?" Sakura interrupted._

_Naruto sighed. "He wants me to kill him because he thinks that he is the cause of this war." At this point Sakura's eyes widened. "I know. I told him that is ridiculous but then he told me something. Something that made me agree."_

"_What did he say?" Sakura asked._

"_He said that years ago you stopped him from leaving so he didn't and he is very grateful about it. He also said that Orochimaru came here because of him and the only way he could save you and everyone was to sacrifice himself and die doing something for Konoha. But now that I'm dying, I can't help him. Can you kill him for me?"_

"_I...I..."_

"_Please Sakura."_

"_O-Ok Naruto." Sakura said, tears pouring from her eyes._

"_Thank you." Naruto whispered and dropped his hand._

"_N-no...Naruto!!!!!!" Sakura sobbed into his chest._

* * *

Her dream had ended then. 

"Naruto..." Sakura whispered sadly and reached out for a photo frame that stood on the bedside table. It was of the four of them. It was taken right after Sasuke, Naruto and herself graduated. The reason why it was with her was because she always brought this picture with her whenever she left for missions and thankfully she did on her first mission as ANBU.

Sakura sighed and brought the picture to her face. She rubbed the glass, feeling it's coolness. Sakura laughed softly at the picture. It was so funny. Kakashi-sensei had both his hands on Sasuke and Naruto's head. Naruto was glaring at Sasuke whereas Sasuke was staring at the camera. Sakura looked at herself. She was smiling happily and had both her arms held in front of her. Oh how she missed those days that were spent with them. Before she knew it, she was sobbing into her pillow; picture lying by her side.

"Why...Why?" Sakura sobbed before darkness overtook her.

* * *

A/N: Ok! That's the end of Chapter Two. I hope you enjoyed it. The review button is right bellow. Oh and many thanks to Lady V-chan whom agreed to beta read this story for me. This chapter is dedicated to you Lady V-chan:-) Ja-ne! 

P/s: I put a link on my profile of the graduation picture and also the necklace.Go see it.The link is through my blog. The necklace is really beautiful.

Stephanie


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